Your Daily Routine

Spanish Basic Conversation 2

Chapter 1 · Your Daily Routine

⏰ Your Daily Routine — Mi rutina diaria

Welcome to Course 2. In Course 1 you listed facts; now you start describing your day. This chapter covers reflexive verbs (me levanto, me ducho, me acuesto), the parts of the day, and how often you do things (siempre, a veces, nunca). Each dialog has a short Hard words note; the respelling is in the tables.

① A Weekday (formal) — ¿Cómo es su día?

A: Buenos días, señora Ruiz. ¿A qué hora se levanta usted? Good morning, Mrs Ruiz. What time do you get up?

B: Me levanto a las siete y media. I get up at half past seven.

A: ¿Y a qué hora empieza a trabajar? And what time do you start work?

B: Empiezo a las nueve y termino a las cinco. I start at nine and finish at five.

Hard words: levantarse, empezar, terminar (to finish). Se levanta = "you get up" (usted).

② The Morning (informal) — Por la mañana

A: ¿Qué haces por la mañana? What do you do in the morning?

B: Me levanto, me ducho y desayuno. I get up, have a shower and have breakfast.

A: ¿Siempre desayunas en casa? Do you always have breakfast at home?

B: A veces. Los lunes desayuno en un bar. Sometimes. On Mondays I have breakfast in a bar.

Hard words: ducharse (to have a shower), desayunar (to have breakfast), a veces (sometimes). Haces is from hacer, a set phrase for now.

③ Lunch and the Afternoon — La comida

A: ¿A qué hora coméis normalmente? What time do you usually have lunch?

B: Comemos a las dos y media o a las tres. We have lunch at half past two or three.

A: ¡Qué tarde! ¿Y después de comer? How late! And after lunch?

B: Descansamos un poco y volvemos a trabajar. We rest a little and go back to work.

Hard words: normalmente (usually), descansar (to rest), un poco (a little), volver a + infinitive (to do again). Coméis is the vosotros form (Spain).

④ The Evening (formal) — Por la noche

A: Perdone, ¿a qué hora cena usted normalmente? Excuse me, what time do you normally have dinner?

B: Ceno a las diez, más o menos. I have dinner at ten, more or less.

A: ¿Y a qué hora se acuesta? And what time do you go to bed?

B: Me acuesto a las doce, nunca antes. I go to bed at twelve, never earlier.

Hard words: acostarse (to go to bed; o → ue), más o menos (more or less), nunca (never), antes (before).

⑤ The Weekend — Los fines de semana

A: ¿Te levantas temprano los sábados? Do you get up early on Saturdays?

B: No, nunca. Me levanto tarde, a las diez. No, never. I get up late, at ten.

A: ¿Y los domingos? And on Sundays?

B: Los domingos casi siempre como con mi familia. On Sundays I almost always have lunch with my family.

Hard words: temprano (early), tarde (late), casi siempre (almost always), los sábados (on Saturdays, every Saturday).

⑥ Flatmates (casual) — Mi día, tu día

A: ¡Qué sueño! Me levanto a las seis cada día. I'm so sleepy! I get up at six every day.

B: Yo me ducho por la noche, no por la mañana. I shower at night, not in the morning.

A: ¿Y cuándo estudias? And when do you study?

B: Por la tarde. Después me acuesto tarde. In the afternoon. Then I go to bed late.

Hard words: ¡Qué sueño! (I'm so sleepy!), cada día (every day), cuándo (when).

🗣️ Key Phrases — Frases clave

English	Formal (usted)	Informal (tú)
What time do you get up?	¿A qué hora se levanta? ah keh OH-rah seh leh-BAHN-tah	¿A qué hora te levantas? ah keh OH-rah teh leh-BAHN-tahs
What time do you go to bed?	¿A qué hora se acuesta? ah keh OH-rah seh ah-KWEHS-tah	¿A qué hora te acuestas? ah keh OH-rah teh ah-KWEHS-tahs
What do you do in the morning?	¿Qué hace por la mañana? keh AH-theh por lah mah-NYAH-nah	¿Qué haces por la mañana? keh AH-thehs por lah mah-NYAH-nah
I get up at seven.	Me levanto a las siete. meh leh-BAHN-toh ah lahs SYEH-teh

🔄 Reflexive Verbs — Verbos reflexivos

A reflexive verb has a small word before it (me, te, se, nos, os, se) that means the action is done to yourself: levantarse literally "to raise oneself". In the dictionary the infinitive ends in -se. In a sentence the pronoun goes before the conjugated verb and matches the subject.

	levantarse (to get up)	ducharse (to shower)	acostarse (to go to bed)
yo (I)	me levanto meh leh-BAHN-toh	me ducho meh DOO-choh	me acuesto meh ah-KWEHS-toh
tú (you, informal)	te levantas teh leh-BAHN-tahs	te duchas teh DOO-chahs	te acuestas teh ah-KWEHS-tahs
él, ella, usted	se levanta seh leh-BAHN-tah	se ducha seh DOO-chah	se acuesta seh ah-KWEHS-tah
nosotros (we)	nos levantamos nohs leh-bahn-TAH-mohs	nos duchamos nohs doo-CHAH-mohs	nos acostamos nohs ah-kohs-TAH-mohs
vosotros (Spain)	os levantáis ohs leh-bahn-TAHYS	os ducháis ohs doo-CHAHYS	os acostáis ohs ah-kohs-TAHYS
ellos, ellas, ustedes	se levantan seh leh-BAHN-tahn	se duchan seh DOO-chahn	se acuestan seh ah-KWEHS-tahn

The Pronoun Comes First, and Acostarse Changes Its Stem The pronoun goes right before the verb: Me levanto a las siete, ¿A qué hora te acuestas? Acostarse is also a stem-changing verb (o → ue) in every form except nosotros and vosotros, like poder (Spanish Basic Conversation 1 11): me acuesto but nos acostamos. The other two verbs here are regular. The verb desayunar ("to have breakfast") is not reflexive: desayuno, not me desayuno.

🕘 When and How Often — Cuándo y con qué frecuencia

Spanish	Say it	English
por la mañana	por lah mah-NYAH-nah	in the morning
por la tarde	por lah TAR-deh	in the afternoon / evening
por la noche	por lah NOH-cheh	at night
siempre	SYEHM-preh	always
normalmente	nor-mahl-MEHN-teh	usually, normally
a veces	ah BEH-thehs	sometimes
casi nunca	KAH-see NOON-kah	hardly ever
nunca	NOON-kah	never
todos los días	TOH-dohs lohs DEE-ahs	every day
los fines de semana	lohs FEE-nehs deh seh-MAH-nah	at weekends

Where the Frequency Word Goes, and "No ... nunca" Frequency words usually go before the verb (Siempre me levanto temprano) or at the start or end of the sentence (A veces desayuno en un bar). Nunca works with or without no: Nunca me acuesto antes de las doce = No me acuesto nunca antes de las doce. After a day, los means "every": los lunes = on Mondays (Spanish Basic Conversation 1 7). Por la tarde covers afternoon and early evening.

📖 Vocabulary — Vocabulario

20 key words. Read the Spanish first, then check the respelling (CAPITALS = the stressed syllable).

#	Spanish	Say it	English	Type
1	la rutina	lah roo-TEE-nah	routine	noun
2	el desayuno	ehl deh-sah-YOO-noh	breakfast	noun
3	la comida	lah koh-MEE-dah	lunch; food	noun
4	la cena	lah THEH-nah	dinner	noun
5	la siesta	lah SYEHS-tah	nap; afternoon rest	noun
6	el fin de semana	ehl FEEN deh seh-MAH-nah	weekend	noun
7	levantarse	leh-bahn-TAR-seh	to get up	verb
8	ducharse	doo-CHAR-seh	to have a shower	verb
9	acostarse	ah-kohs-TAR-seh	to go to bed	verb
10	desayunar	deh-sah-yoo-NAR	to have breakfast	verb
11	comer	koh-MEHR	to eat; to have lunch	verb
12	cenar	theh-NAR	to have dinner	verb
13	empezar / terminar	ehm-peh-THAR / tehr-mee-NAR	to start / to finish	verb
14	descansar	dehs-kahn-SAR	to rest	verb
15	temprano	tehm-PRAH-noh	early	adv
16	tarde	TAR-deh	late	adv
17	antes (de) / después (de)	AHN-tehs / dehs-PWEHS	before / after	adv
18	siempre / nunca	SYEHM-preh / NOON-kah	always / never	adv
19	a veces	ah BEH-thehs	sometimes	phrase
20	cada día	KAH-dah DEE-ah	every day	phrase

The Spanish Day The day in Spain generally runs later than in Britain: breakfast is light, lunch (the main meal) is typically around 2 to 3 pm, and dinner around 9 to 10 pm, with dinner later in summer. The siesta is a fading custom: many working people do not nap, and the lunch break is often used for the main meal, family time or errands, though the siesta survives more in smaller towns. These are approximate; routines vary by region, job and household.

Hacer: Peek Ahead ¿Qué haces? ("What are you doing?") uses hacer ("to do, to make"), which you met as a set phrase. It is regular except for yo hago. It returns in Chapter 2 and Chapter 6.

Latin America Note The reflexive verbs work the same in Latin America. Instead of vosotros (¿A qué hora os levantáis?) Latin American Spanish uses ustedes (¿A qué hora se levantan?). Mealtimes and meal names differ by country: almuerzo is a common word for lunch, and la comida may mean "food" or the main meal depending on the country.

Grammar Pointer Reflexive verbs are explained in full in Spanish Grammar 2 6, stem-changing verbs such as acostarse in Spanish Grammar 2 5, and negation with nunca in Spanish Grammar 2 8. Use them as a reference after this chapter.

✍️ Try It Yourself — Ejercicios

Say each answer out loud first, then click to check.

1. Say: "I get up at seven, I have a shower and I have breakfast."

Show answer

Me levanto a las siete, me ducho y desayuno.

2. Ask a friend (tú) what time they go to bed, then ask a stranger (usted) what time they get up.

Show answer

¿A qué hora te acuestas? · ¿A qué hora se levanta?

3. Complete with the right pronoun: "Yo ___ levanto." · "Nosotros ___ acostamos tarde." · "Ella ___ ducha por la mañana."

Show answer

me · nos · se.

4. Complete: "Yo ___ a las doce." (acostarse) · "Tú ___ temprano." (levantarse) · "Nosotros ___ tarde." (acostarse)

Show answer

me acuesto · te levantas · nos acostamos. (o → ue in acuesto, but not in acostamos.)

5. Say: "I never go to bed before twelve." and "On Sundays I always have lunch with my family."

Show answer

Nunca me acuesto antes de las doce. · Los domingos siempre como con mi familia.

6. Describe your own day in three sentences with times (for example: Me levanto a las…, empiezo a trabajar a las…, ceno a las…).

Show an example

Me levanto a las siete. Empiezo a trabajar a las nueve. Ceno a las ocho y me acuesto a las once.

Coming Up in Chapter 2 Hobbies and free time: me gusta el fútbol, juego al tenis, voy al gimnasio, tocar la guitarra, and gustar in full (me gusta / me gustan / te gusta), with jugar and other stem-changing verbs.